By Henry Ukazu

Compliments of the season Dear Friends,

I congratulate everyone for making it to the last few days of 2019. The year 2019 has come and will end in about 48 or 72hours depending on your location. At the end of the year, rational minds will take a deep breath to see how far they fared in life; they evaluate all their actions and decisions and judge if they improved or not. Business leaders, managers, administrators, government officials, entertainers, etc. are not left out in this struggle. They all take inventory of how they fared in order to prepare for the next year’s activities. Amidst all this, one factor that played a critical role is choice.

Choice played a fundamental role in influencing the outcome of our decisions. As we prepare and plan for the next decade which begins in 2020, we all need to make the right choices, and the first step is by associating with the right people with the right vision and understanding to life.

What really is choice? According to Google “Choice is an act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities”. We all make choices everyday consciously or unconsciously. Life is a matter of choice. We are making choices every day at every single step. According to John C. Maxwell, “Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you.” Before you wear cloth, eat a particular food, marry, watch a particular movie or channel, travel, apply for a job or school, etc., you made a decision to do that. That decision is what is simply referred to as choice. “In every single thing you do, you are choosing a direction. Your life is a product of choices.” It is this small choice and direction that leads to major success in life if properly articulated.

Growing up as kids, our parents and guardians trained and made decisions for us, but as we progress in life and become of age, we decide what works for us by making our own independent decision. It is sad to note that most people attribute their failures in life to their parents and the environment. This set of people fail to think outside the box to know that our parents and guardians may be responsible for where we are or even raising us up, but we are utterly responsible for what we become. Per Jean-Paul Sarte ” We are our choices”.

Your choice can make or mar you just like your decisions. However, it should be noted that, when you make the wrong choice, that is not the end of life, you can turn your failures into your friend by looking at the circumstances surrounding it. Our choice in life is responsible for stimulating our response and reactions in any circumstance.

In the course of this article, we shall be discussing how choice can play a unique and significant role in projecting us to destiny. The decision to succeed in life is up to the choice we make. It is a well-established principle that failing to prepare is preparing to fail.  According to Pastor Reno Omokri, “People don’t succeed because they are destined for success, people succeed because they are determined to succeed, your destiny depends on your decision. Your luck depends on your work. Your prosperity or poverty is your choice”. Therefore, it will be right to say that, everything in life is centered on choice. We shall examine several component parts of life where choice plays a unique role.

Academic

Choice plays a unique role in our academics. Generally speaking, most people chose a particular major of interest while in College/University. A relatively low percentage chose or settled for a major based on “interest”. For instance, I have always loved to be a lawyer and by the special of Grace of God, I am a lawyer, I didn’t just get the title on a platter of gold, I earned it. However, when I emigrated to the USA, I did a graduate program in New York Law School that was totally out of my interest, but because I have a positive approach towards life, I had to turn a lemon into a lemonade with the profession and it has been one of the best choice/and decision I have made in recent times  because it has really shaped me.

 Relationship

 According to George Eliot “The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.” As human beings, we are all social animals. Nobody lives in insolation, rather we need each other to survive. True friendship comes with value. If you will agree with me, your network determines your net worth.  Great minds know that the business of business is human relations, but the business of life is human connection. Making the right choice in friendship, association or organization cannot be overemphasized. It takes maturely and understanding to relate with people because human beings can be the most difficult people on earth. The people you relate and allow into your space can positively or negatively influence your life either consciously or unconsciously.

Choice

Making a choice can be very hard and at the same time easy; it is easy when you have peace and listen to your heart desires, but it becomes challenging when we have so many things requesting our attention in addition to other vested interests. It is highly imperative to listen to the inner still voice in your heart before making a decision. Your conscience can hardly fail you when you’re at peace with yourself.  According to Stephen Covey “We are the creative force of our life, and through our own decisions rather than our conditions, if we carefully learn to do certain things, we can accomplish those goals”. Most people attribute their failure to man-made situations or hard luck; they fail to understand that nobody owes us anything and we are responsible for our choice and lots in life.

Success

Succeeding in life can be a herculean task, especially when you don’t play by the rules. Most leaders sometimes find it hard to bring change while in government or large corporations or organizations due to various factors and interests that might be at stake. It takes courage, risk, and gut to bring lasting positive change especially when you have an idea that will change the status quo. For leaders and captains of industries who are serious of making a lasting change in their space, please note the word of  Denis Whitley “There are two primary choices in life; to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” –

Let me share with you some tips on how to make a good choice.

1.      Remind yourself your priority, goal, and future impact of the outcome while choosing or deciding to take a particular route.

2.      Never allow emotions, sentiments or vested interest to sway your decisions. Moral, use your intuition and not your head when making a choice.

3.      Always consider as many alternatives and options before making any decision. This will help you to make an informed decision.

The height of great men was not attained by luck, they were attained by hard and smart work and also careful plan. They also used sound polices and sound judgmental discretion backed by informed advice from reliable people. According to Jim Collins Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.”  Therefore, the choice to succeed and fail in life is not up to anyone, but you. That is why Roy Bennett stated “You are not the victim of the world, but rather the master of your own destiny. It is your choices and decisions that determine your destiny.”

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success. He can be reached via henrous@gmail.com